Sartorial Zoo

My friend Adrien here in Richmond, VA and her friend Marianne in Knoxville, TN (whose project Looks Good from The Back was previously featured on this site) have created a new daily project together called Sartorial Zoo...

Why did you decide to do this project?

A: We did an entry on our style blog where we matched up street style photos with baby animal dopplegangers (which is surprisingly easy) and it was so much fun that it seemed like a project we should keep doing.

M: It's like we say in our tagline: Street style meets baby animals. Because duh. Fashion is notorious for taking itself too seriously, and baby animals are (mostly) cute. It's a win-win.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life?

A: When the ZooBorns blog updates with new photos my first thought isn't, "Awww, baby sloth!" it's "Ooooh, that looks like the Sartorialist on a bad day." And I laugh. A lot.

M: I will send Adrien photos on a regular basis where I'm like, look at the giraffe's EYES! Or, I think the penguin needs to have it's mouth open. It's just ridiculous, and don't we all need a little ridiculous in our lives?

See all of their fashion/zoo mash-ups HERE.

Unlikely Couples

Liese A Ricketts in Chicago, IL is making a year's worth of Unlikely Couples...

She explains, "I have to credit (for my inspiration) Ken Brown, who so made me laugh with his coupling of unlikely people on postcards in the’80’s. I still remember Ike Eisenhower and Tina Turner couple I loved. I wore that T-shirt until it yellowed from age. Continuing in that tradition with a different aesthetic but a humor not so distant. I am creating this series of Unlikely Couples.

I love making images. Although the work that I live to make is straight black-and-white film photography, during the in-between times, I work on photo collages, animated gifs, and strange things. I collect photographic ephemera and use bits in pieces as well.

The American addiction to celebrity is interesting, curious, morbid, and utterly shameless. This work draws on subjects who are part of the media or scrutinized closely by such. For these particular images I take the name of someone in the media spotlight, if only briefly, and play with their identity. Oh, such fun."

Why did you decide to do this project? I began this project as part of a daily ritual to make art daily. Someone suggested I post them to a site called 365 Days of Print, which I did. I posted every day in June but find myself compelled to make them continually. I have over 120 now and will continue as long as the juices keep flowing.

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? It makes me fell good to do creative things, rather than spend money, get pedicures, and drink too much wine. I feel happier, yes, much happier, and when I get a very Unlikely Couple, I laugh out loud.

See all of Liese's couples HERE.

And see Ken Brown's 365 interview HERE.

NastyCute

My good friend Eliza Skinner in Los Angeles has started a hilarious project documenting "The nastiest thoughts of the cutest animals. Every day." NastyCute is a must read site...

Why did you decide to do this project? Reading Noah's book I was struck with how many people said "i got so much better at _____ by doing this project". So I thought about what I wanted to get better at: writing and music. The music thing I haven't figured out how to do yet, so I just jumped into a writing project first. Juxtaposing cute animals with dark comedy is definitely in my wheelhouse, so it seemed a good place to start. Plus, errebody lub aminals!

How has doing a yearlong/daily project affected your life? This one has only just started, so not so much yet. Before I did a project called "YAT - Year of Awesome Things" where I did at least one awesome thing every week. I didn't finish the year with that one, but it definitely improved my life by forcing me to do awesome exciting stuff, and by changing the way I looked at the stuff I already did. Band practice / pizza party just because? Sure, that counts as awesome.

Read all of Eliza's "nasty" thoughts HERE.

The Weather sKwirl

My friend kHyal™ shared her daily project The Weather sKwirl, where she's been posting a new image, featuring the cutest little squirrel, every day since February 12, 2010, and has no plans to stop!...

 

She says, "The Weather sKwirl™ was created out of sheer fun and silliness and continues everyday for that same reason. The byproduct is that it provides unexpected creative opportunities, has won public art competitions, has become a fine art, style and jewelry line that for some reason sells. (Which perhaps is the oddest part of it.) Mostly, it brings me great joy to see it make other people smile. The character itself houses my own anxiety, thereby deflecting it from me personally, which is just plain good for my mental health."

Catch the sKwirl's adventure's every day HERE.

kHyal™also blogs daily with her partner Karl at DesignerGrill.